Monday, November 30, 2009

Dutch is the official language of Suriname


Dutch is the official language of Suriname. Dutch is the tenth Wikipedia in size in terms of traffic. You would assume that the subject of Suriname is of a high standard. Sadly, this is not really the case. Given that Suriname is a former colony of the Netherlands, and that many people who came from Suriname live there, there is an additional reason why it is reasonable to expect quality.

The Dutch Wikipedia is a white men's game.. It would be good when the composition of its community was a reflection of the people that live in the Netherlands. When the Surinamese, the Turks, the Moroccans write the encyclopaedic articles that are important to them, Wikipedia as a resource will better reflect its aim; "freely share the sum of ALL knowledge".

In the Strategy wiki, the question is raised: "What ratio of contributors to readers should Wikimedia aim for?". I argued that this ratio is not really meaningful to me. After more considerations, I come to the conclusion that it is more important to have a community of editors that reflects the composition of its readers, the population they come from.

I wonder if the lack of coverage of subjects about Suriname, Turkey, Morocco explains this discrepancy. I wonder if people are looking for articles on these subjects.
Thanks,
GerardM

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